The number of unprovoked shark bites and fatalities plummeted in 2024, according to new data from the Florida Museum of Natural History's International Shark Attack File (ISAF).
The recently released report confirms that there were only 47 unprovoked shark bites worldwide, down from 69 in 2023. Just four of these bites resulted in fatalities.
According to the International Shark Attack File, “unprovoked bites are defined as incidents in which a bite on a live human occurs in the shark’s natural habitat with no human provocation of the shark.” This does not include instances when someone initiates contact with a shark (intentionally or unintentionally), for example while spearfishing or releasing sharks from nets or hooks.
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“We’re interested in the natural patterns of shark behaviour so that we can understand why people occasionally get bitten by these animals,” says Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research.
“Any cue or attribute that modifies an animal’s natural behaviour is something that, we as scientists, want to exclude.”
The country with the most unprovoked bites was the USA, with 28 bites. Florida was the US state with the most incidents (with 14 reported bites), eight of which were in Volusia County. This region is a breeding ground for blacktip sharks so scientists suspect many of the bites could have been from juveniles who can’t yet tell the difference between their prey (fish, stingrays and other sharks) and humans.
Although bull and tiger sharks are common along Florida’s northern coast, Naylor says this species tend to “mind their own business” around 150 metres offshore.
Of all the reports globally, a third (33 percent) were associated with surfers. “People surf where there are good waves, and where there are good waves, there’s turbidity, and where there’s turbidity, there are often bait fish that attract sharks,” says Naylor. “The turbidity also reduces visibility in the water, making it harder for sharks to see. Some of them make mistakes.”
Although the likelihood of shark bites increases during summer holidays – simply because more people are in the water – the chance of being bitten by a shark on vacation is incredibly low. Drowning after getting caught in a rip tide or strong current is much more likely.
To reduce your risk of a negative shark encounter: don’t swim at twilight or during darkness (this is when sharks are most active), remove shiny jewellery (to a shark, this can look like the shimmer of a tasty fish) and avoid murky water or areas where people are fishing.
Although many people think sharks are terrifying man-eaters, the new data reconfirms that it’s humans who are the dominant killers. Around 100 million sharks are killed each year for their meat, fins and as accidental bycatch. According to the IUCN Species Survival Commission Shark Specialist Group, a third of sharks, rays and chimaeras (shark-like fish) are now threatened with extinction.
Main image: bull shark/Getty
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